Wilson named assistant vice chancellor for Academic Affairs

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PLATTEVILLE, Wis.­­­ — Dr. Joanne Wilson was named assistant vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Wilson has been serving as the interim assistant chancellor for Student Affairs since 2011, and spent the year prior to that as the interim dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science.

Wilson will start her new position on June 1, and her primary focus will be on student and academic success. She will be tasked with efforts in retention, student success and improving the four-year graduation rate. Wilson will oversee the Registrar’s Office, Karrmann Library, the First Year Experience program, Advising and Career Exploration Services, Pioneer Academic Center for Community Engagement and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors.

"Dr. Joanne Wilson has demonstrated throughout her career that students are her highest priority," Chancellor Dennis J. Shields said. "No matter what position she has served, she has helped so many of our students be successful. In her new role of assistant vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Wilson will utilize all of her experiences to further benefit our students' educational journey."

Wilson will work closely with Dr. Laura Bayless, who will assume the position of assistant vice chancellor for Student Affairs on July 15. According to Dr. Mittie N. Den Herder, UW-Platteville’s provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, a primary goal of both positions is to increase the collaboration between Student Affairs programming and the university’s curriculum to allow students to engage in more meaningful high impact practices.

“A lot of learning goes on outside of the traditional pedagogical format,” said the provost. “That format works very well for a percentage, but for a lot of people high impact practices engage them more and they have a deeper, richer experience.”

The provost noted that Wilson’s experience as interim assistant chancellor for Student Affairs will help her succeed in this endeavor. “She is uniquely qualified to help bridge that gap,” she said.

Since her start at UW-Platteville in 1986 as an assistant professor in the general engineering department, Wilson has earned many accolades including the Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award, presented by the UW System in 1994, and the inaugural Woman of the Year award, presented by the UW-Platteville Women’s Council in 2004.

Her past roles at UW-Platteville include department chair of the general engineering department, assistant dean of the College of EMS and executive director of the First Year Experience program.

“I’ve always enjoyed teaching and I’ve taught for many years in general engineering, which is where we work with freshman and sophomore engineering students to make sure they are in the right major, or help them to a different one where they will be more successful,” said Wilson. “I think that this is just moving up to a larger scale in terms of ensuring more of our students are successful, stay here and graduate in a timely fashion.”

Wilson will be assuming the role from the recently retired Dr. David Van Buren, who served as the associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs since 2000.